A little bit o' Ethan

My boy is so smart. Seriously. When I compare what Mallory was like when she was almost 20 months old to what Ethan is like, he's STRIDES farther along than she was. I don't think I had a conversation with Mallory until...well, until just a few short months ago (just before she turned 3), not that I don't think Mallory is smart, it just took her a lot longer to communicate with us. I had my first conversation with Ethan the other morning:

Scene - Ethan has woken up from his evening sleep and is happily talking to himself in his crib. Mommy goes in to get Ethan out of bed.

Mommy: Hey Buddy! Did you have a good sleep?
Ethan: See Daddy?
Mommy: No Buddy, Daddy went bye-bye.
Ethan: Daddy bye-bye blue car?
Mommy: Yeah, Buddy. Daddy went to work in his blue car.
Ethan: See Gommy?
Mommy: No Buddy, Gommy isn't here today.
Ethan: Gommy bye-bye silver car?
Mommy (chuckling): Yeah, buddy. Gommy is bye-bye in her silver car.
Ethan: See Mommy!

He's by precious boy. He loves his Daddy and has a special place in his heart for his Gommy, though he loves seeing his Poppy, Grams and Pops, too. The other day, he pointed to the dining room chair his Pops usually sits in when he comes to visit and said "Pops chair". Whenever he sees me on the computer or cell phone, he says "Talk to Poppy". When he sees a picture of his Grams, he points to it and says "Eems! Eems!". He knows them all and loves them.

Ethan talks up a storm and is already starting to recite some of his ABC's and pick up lyrics from songs. He says please and thank you with being prompted and kindly gives Mallory her Doggie if he ever finds it laying around (it's rare the Doggie is laying around, but it happens...). When we're around town, he points out circles, rectangles, squares and triangles in things that he sees; it's just unfortunate for my germ-o-phobia that he likes to point out the square tiles in bathroom floors of every restroom we frequent while out (and we frequent a lot of them...). He also loves trucks. While we're out, he can spot the difference between a car, truck, Hummer, Jeep, big rig, tractor, dump truck, motorcycle, police car, fire truck, and ambulance. He knows his vehicles!

Though he has MANY sweet qualities, he knows how to throw a tantrum. The boy will run mindlessly in any given direction if he doesn't get his way, sometimes into walls, chairs and tables which makes his excessive screaming more screech-like. He can cry and scream with the best of them, but once his big blue eyes (albeit, red-rimmed) turn to me and he confirms he's "'kay, I sowwy" (and I repeat it to him...), his crying usually subsides and he's good to go.

He's our sweet buddy and keeps us laughing and guessing all the time.